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1 VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, California.
2 David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles.
Address correspondence to Jennifer L. Martin, PhD, VA Sepulveda GRECC (11E), 16111 Plummer Street, North Hills, CA 91343. E-mail: jennifer.martin{at}va.gov
Background. Sleep problems among assisted living facility (ALF) residents are not well understood, and sleep-related differences between ALF residents and home-dwelling older adults have not been examined.
Methods. We compared sleep patterns in 19 ALF residents to sleep patterns in 19 matched home-dwelling older people (age 
65 years). All were participating in the follow-up portion of a longitudinal study of sleep and functional outcomes following post-acute rehabilitation. Sleep was assessed with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and 1 week of wrist actigraphy.
Results. By actigraphy, ALF residents awoke earlier in the morning and exhibited more nighttime awakenings compared to home-dwelling participants (06:50 hours ± 1:29 hours vs 07:51 hours ± 1:19 hours and 19.5 ± 8.5 vs 12.9 ± 11.4 awakenings, respectively).
Conclusions. Larger studies are needed to confirm these initial findings that ALF residents have more disrupted sleep than do home-dwelling older persons, and to examine the functional and health consequences of poor sleep among ALF residents.
Key Words: Sleep • Aging • Circadian rhythms • Assisted living
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